Okay, he threw a hefty wad against the wall. Now we have to wait and see how much of it sticks.
To me, the best part of yesterday's speech was the commitment to let the Bush tax cuts expire — presumably including the possibility that middle class taxes also will increase. Personally, I don't think a middle class tax increase would be all that awful. Granted, there is not quite so much middle class as there once was, but what the hell... most of the people who think of themselves as "middle" wouldn't be out more than a couple of hundred a year. Too bad for McDonalds, WalMart, etc.
The worst part of yesterday's speech was the continued assumption that Obamacare would reduce health care costs. The only sensible way to reduce health care costs is to remove the profits enjoyed by private insurance companies. Given that Obama is an unrepentant Clintonista, we won't be hearing anything from him about Medicare for All.
While Obama's speech was more aggressive than I expected, we won't know what any of the rhetoric — generally seen by the news media as "the first speech of the campaign season" — genuinely means in terms of action for a while.
I would love to be surprised.
Showing posts with label speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speech. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The Spill Speech
"God Bless Us, Every One!"
Tiny Tim
"Uh, yeah! Right!"
Barack Obama
Okay, I was not impressed. I was hoping for a little detail. No, I certainly didn't expect a proposal for a carbon tax, although that is exactly what we need to reduce our dependence on imported oil. An extra dollar or two a gallon certainly would do the trick, but politically, that won't work. You don't win elections by preaching abstinence to addicts.
What we got was just more of the increasingly boring Obama blather. (I thought of calling it "jive" rather than "blather," but it didn't rise to the level of jive — and jive really is best accomplished by black men.) Then there was all that "god" talk tossed in at the end. Is he still trying to win over states like Alabama and Mississippi? What an asshole!
What is needed is not talk — nothing will matter but action. Granted, the Brits will not be too happy if we bankrupt BP, but what the hell — they'll be pulling out of Afghanistan any day now anyway, and even though they steered clear of the euro, they'll still be stuck in the European debt crisis. "Bah, humbug," as Tiny Tim didn't say — nor did Obama.
Maybe he should run that quote by Rahm. Maybe that's what America is waiting to hear.
Tiny Tim
"Uh, yeah! Right!"
Barack Obama
Okay, I was not impressed. I was hoping for a little detail. No, I certainly didn't expect a proposal for a carbon tax, although that is exactly what we need to reduce our dependence on imported oil. An extra dollar or two a gallon certainly would do the trick, but politically, that won't work. You don't win elections by preaching abstinence to addicts.
What we got was just more of the increasingly boring Obama blather. (I thought of calling it "jive" rather than "blather," but it didn't rise to the level of jive — and jive really is best accomplished by black men.) Then there was all that "god" talk tossed in at the end. Is he still trying to win over states like Alabama and Mississippi? What an asshole!
What is needed is not talk — nothing will matter but action. Granted, the Brits will not be too happy if we bankrupt BP, but what the hell — they'll be pulling out of Afghanistan any day now anyway, and even though they steered clear of the euro, they'll still be stuck in the European debt crisis. "Bah, humbug," as Tiny Tim didn't say — nor did Obama.
Maybe he should run that quote by Rahm. Maybe that's what America is waiting to hear.
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